Eastspring Investments has appointed Polly Wang as its Taipei-based CEO for Taiwan, according to a statement from the firm.
Subject to regulatory approval, Wang is expected to assume her role on 2 November.
Wang was at Nomura Asset Management, where she was CEO for Taiwan. Before that, she was country manager at BNP Paribas Cardif Taiwan, an insurance group engaged in life and non-life business.
Replacing Wang at Nomura AM is Michelle Maa, who will be assuming her Taiwan CEO role next month, according to a Taipei-based spokeswoman at Nomura AM.
Maa was at Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI), where she was the firm’s Taiwan head.
A Hong Kong-based spokeswoman at ASI has confirmed Maa’s departure from the firm. Subject to regulatory approval, Nicole Chen, who is ASI’s Taipei-based head of Greater China marketing, will assume the additional role of acting general manager for Taiwan, the spokeswoman said.
Eastspring’s Wang replaces Loretta Ng, who was the firm’s Taiwan CEO since 2011 and had been with Eastspring for 19 years. Ng left the firm in October last year and joined M&G Investments as head of Asia.
After Ng left, Janelle Yeo, head of corporate strategy and chief of staff, was appointed interim CEO for Taiwan, according to the firm’s website.
Wang will be responsible for continuing the growth and development of Eastspring’s retail and institutional business in Taiwan, according to the statement. She will report to Wai-Kwong Seck, Eastspring’s CEO.
Senior management changes
Eastspring saw major changes to its senior management team since January last year, which saw the departures of long-time CEO Guy Strapp, CFO Ted Pull and COO Phil Stockwell. Strapp, who retired, was replaced by Seck in April 2019.
Pull was replaced by Francis Woo, who joined the firm as CFO in January this year, according to the firm’s website. Previously, he was the CFO at TPG Capital Asia.
Jeroen Buwalda, who joined Eastspring in 2017, became the firm’s new COO in January last year.
Meanwhile, ex-Eastspring chief investment officer Virginie Maisonneuve left the firm in September, after the firm restructured its investment department into two separate divisions. At the time, Ooi Boon Peng took the role of head of the then newly created investment fund strategies team, while Kelvin Blacklock was appointed as head of the newly formed investment solutions team.
Maisonneuve now runs an asset management consulting firm in London, MGA Consulting, which she co-founded with Michael Fleshman, according to MGA’s website.
